Taco-Quila Mexican Kitchen and Cantina — Restaurant in Elfers

Went here with a friend for lunch on Aug. 20, 2024. Heard good things about the place, which just opened a month or so ago in their New Port Richey location. First, the good: place was clean, with great Mexican decor that was new and vibrant. Food was average; had the chimichanga and enchiladas between the two of us. I was excited to try the margarita flight, which my friend had tried on a past visit.

Now the bad. The flights come in four separate 6-ounce glasses, which you can mix-and-match flavors, all of them set inside a ceramic airplane. A bit cheesy, but different in a good way. The presentation with blasting music and two servers dancing table-side as they bring it to you was way over the top. But that would have been forgiven if not for two other aspects--the drinks themselves were cloyingly sweet, and tasted nothing remotely like a margarita, flavored or not. Neither of us could drink them. I like sweet drinks, but these seemed like they were 90% sugar. My friend attempted to dilute the best-tasting of the four with ice, to no avail. Now the doozy...

When the young female waitress named Yalithza brought out our food, I told her that the drinks were too sweet for us to drink. I"m not the type to ever ask for a refund unless it's blatant the restaurant was at fault. To be clear, they weren't. We ordered them, didn't like them, at which point I told the waitress to please take them away to make room for our food. I clearly told her that I planned to still pay for them. Then...unbelievably...she looks at my friend and says that she'd seen her placing ice into the glass. I told her why, but she repeated herself, stressing that the drink had appeared half-drank when she'd done so. True, but again, this was to dilute it, not to try passing it off as full then returning it for a refund. I repeated myself, that I still planned on paying for it. The waitress took the drinks away and that was that.

My friend and I finished our meal, which was average to good, but the mood was soured. The more time that went by, the more angry we became. Here was a waitress who clearly thought one of two things: 1.) That we liked the one drink enough to drink half of it, then pass it off as if we hadn't, or 2.) Had attempted by trickery to make it appear not-drank at all, and attempt a refund.

Except...I literally told her twice that we'd still pay for it.

This may seem like an overreaction, but it isn't. Paying customers don't frequent a new eatery only to be insulted and embarrassed by a 20-something young woman who clearly has no idea how to talk to people, let alone having any business serving customers. Never in my life, and having eaten out over 1,000 times, have I ever had waitstaff insult me or one of my friends over such a meaningless issue. Other people at nearby tables all heard the exchange. We both have thick skin, so feelings weren't hurt as far as that goes. But it was insulting nonetheless.

This was our experience, and I don't know the young lady who I'm referring to. The place has decent food, and great atmosphere, but the drinks we had were terrible and the service was even worse. Neither of us will ever go there again, and we'll both tell all our friends and family to never go there either. This isn't about revenge. This is the truth, and me taking time out of my day to tell others to beware of this egregious behavior. The salt in our wound was the $64 bill. They didn't take the drinks off the bill even though I offered to pay for them. Fair enough, I offered. But the management should have stepped in and done the right thing. Note: I told her again before we left why we'd done the ice thing. Not to explain ourselves, but to see if she'd apologize. Nope!

We didn't tip her a penny. The restaurant got our money, but I'd love to ask them if it was worth it to get a well-deserved scathing review. I guess I sort of am now. Hope it...

What a great find! I was craving Mexican, and stopped into Taco-quila based on their previous reviews. It did not disappoint!

Service was friendly and fast. Chips and a great salsa came out quickly and drunk orders were taken just after those were set down.

We were given just enough time to review the menu before our meal orders were taken.

I ordered three tamales with some salsa verde on the side and my partner ordered the Burrito Bandera.

I have never had tamales in made quite like this, with very delicious and light corn bread over the shredded chicken, smothered in a dark red sauce, with cheese on the top. I added the salsa Verde to my bites, and found it to taste very fresh and flavorful. The tamales were also much larger than what I'm used to getting at many restaurants, and all around I was delighted with my dish and pretty full after just over one!

The burrito was massive, and came covered in three different sauces, each one so tasty, and some fine pico de Gallo over the top. Rice and refried beans were served on the side.

We were too full to eat all the food, and couldn't have fit dessert as well, so took our leftovers home, and will definitely return to try more things on the menu, perhaps the fajitas, which we could hear sizzling and smell from a nearby table, and likely the amazing...

We decided to try this restaurant instead of our usual Mexican place. Was looking forward to it based on all the 5 star reviews. Sadly we were disappointed. We almost didn't go in based on the cleanliness of the exterior seating area but hubby said ," let's give it a go." Inside wasn't much better. Dingy, poor lighting. Had to use flashlight on phone to even read the menu. The server was really pushy trying to get us to order an appetizer. I told her three times "no thanks." Hubby finally said "No" and she walked away. She then did the same thing again when we ordered our entrees. The salsa that came with chips was gross. It tasted like canned tomato paste with a sprinkle of herbs in it. That should have been our first clue. Our food arrived and although there was a lot of it, the taste was not good. I had a bland, watery, chicken taco salad drenched in watery sour cream. I ate the outer shell and a few bites of the so called salad. Hubby had the very greasy fajita. Ate maybe a quarter and said "I'm done." Then came the bill. With tip our bill came to over $72.00! For mediocre, bland, tasteless food, poor, pushy customer service, and dingy, unappealing atmosphere. We won't be back. Just want to say don't believe those 5 star reviews. Read the negative ones as...